Canadian Labour Reporter

lAboUr brieFs 2 Canadian HR Reporter, a Thomson Reuters business 2015 CPP cheques rising 1.8 per cent for 2015 ottAWA — Canada Pension Plan benefits are rising 1.8 per cent in the new year for people already receiving benefits. Employment and Social Development Canada announced the benefit amounts on Dec. 29, 2014. Effective Jan. 1, 2015, the max- imum CPP retirement benefit for new recipients age 65 will be $1,065 per month. The increase is calculated on the average year- ly maximum pensionable earn- ings for the last five years. The new CPP rates will be in effect until Dec. 31, 2015. Old Age Security (OAS) ben- efits, which consist of the basic OAS pension, the Guaranteed Income Supplement (GIS) and the Allowances, will remain the same for the first quarter (Janu- ary to March) of 2015. As of Jan. 1, 2015, the basic OAS pension will stay at $563.74 per month. OAS benefits, like CPP benefits, are based on the consumer price index (CPI). marine Atlantic, usW/ iLA Council of trade unions reach collective agreement hALiFAX — Marine Atlantic and the USW/ILA Council of Trade Unions reached a collec- tive agreement in the last days of 2014. The federal Crown corpora- tion offers commercial and pas- senger ferry services between the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador and Nova Scotia. The new deal was reached with assistance from the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Ser- vice. The previous agreement, which expired on Dec. 31, 2013, covered 442 employees. More than 94 per cent of col- lective agreements within the federal jurisdiction were settled without work stoppages in the past five years when the Me- diation and Conciliation Service was involved, according to Em- ployment and Social Develop- ment Canada. A civil initiative organized protests against double taxation in Austria after the abolishment of a special income tax relief for cross-border workers in the country took effect on Jan. 1, 2015. FormerLY CLV rePorts serving labour relations professionals since 1956 www.labour-reporter.com Published weekly by omson reuters Canada Ltd. subscription rate: $595 per year Customer service tel: (416) 609-3800 (Toronto) (800) 387-5164 (outside Toronto) Fax: (416) 298-5106 email: carswell.customerrelations@ thomsonreuters.com Website: www.carswell.com director, Carswell media Karen Lorimer Publisher John Hobel Associate Publisher/managing editor Todd Humber Lead editor Sarah Dobson | (416) 649-7896 sarah.dobson@thomsonreuters.com news editor Sabrina Nanji | (416) 649-9348 sabrina.nanji@thomsonreuters.com news editor Liz Foster | (416) 298-5129 liz.foster@thomsonreuters.com marketing Co-ordinator Keith Fulford | (416) 649-9585 keith.fulford@thomsonreuters.com © 2015 Carswell, a division of omson Reuters Canada Ltd. All rights reserved. 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Labour Reporter Canadian www.labourreporter.com Photo: Srdjan Zivulovic (Reuters) lAboUr lens MAXIMUM CPP BENEFIT RATES AS OF JAN. 1, 2015 Type of Canada Pension Plan Benefit Maximum Benefit Rates for 2015 Retirement pension (at age 65) .............................................................................. $1,065.00 Post-retirement benefit (at age 65) ............................................................................. $26.63 Disability pension ........................................................................................................ $1,264.59 Survivor's pension (under age 65) .............................................................................$581.13 Survivor's pension (age 65 and over) .......................................................................$639.00 Disabled contributor's child benefits .......................................................................$234.87 Deceased contributor's child benefits .....................................................................$234.87 Death benefit ................................................................................................................. $2,500.00 COMBINED PENSIONS: Survivor/Retirement (retire at age 65) .......................................................$1,065.00 Survivor/disability ....................................................................................................... $1,264.59 FLAT RATE: Survivor's pension ...........................................................................................................$181.75 Disability pension ............................................................................................................$465.84

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